AMSTERDAM'S SMOKIN' COFFEE SHOPS

What Amsterdamers take for granted is difficult for many Americans to
understand. Mayonnaise on french fries? Commuting by bicycle? Marijuana in a
coffee shop?

In these shops--which are more prevalent on Amsterdam streets than Starbucks
outlets in the Washington area--anyone over 18 can walk in, buy a couple of
grams of marijuana for about $12, roll it up with paper provided by the shop
and light up. If smoking is not your thing, the shops will sell you
marijuana baked into a "space cake" or brewed into a tea.

And here's the oddest thing: If you choose to indulge in a cannabis product,
you will be all but free from threat of arrest in the land of tulips and
windmills.

See if you can follow this: Drug use is legal, but possession is not. How
you can smoke marijuana without possessing it is a discussion to be had
between bong hits. Having less than five grams (.18 ounces) is a minor
offense, kind of like jaywalking in Washington, and is rarely enforced.
Coffee shops are permitted to sell the stuff, but it has to materialize out
of thin air, because possession of more than five grams is a major offense.
Even if it were legal to stock the shops, suppliers would need a magic wand,
because it's illegal to grow it.

You can buy marijuana or hashish in a coffee shop but not alcohol, although
booze flows freely at Amsterdam's cafes and bars.

Confused? It seems the lawmakers are, too.

In the shops, you'll find people from all walks of life: locals and
tourists, twentysomethings and sixtysomethings. Lest you think the country
is full of stoned loafers, the Dutch economy is one of the strongest in
Europe (indeed, in 1999, the economy grew more and unemployment was lower
than most of its neighbors). And studies have shown that marijuana use is
lower in the Netherlands than in the United States (15.6 percent of Dutch
people admit to having used marijuana in their lifetime vs. 32.9 percent in
the United States).

In the 25 years since Amsterdam liberalized its drug policy, many coffee
shops have cropped up on these narrow streets and winding canals, though
their number is dwindling. From small and intimate holes-in-the-wall to
international chains, every smoker can have their favorite.

The Grasshopper (Oudebrugsteeg 16), near Amsterdam's main train station, is
many visitors' first stop or primary destination. Crowded with American
college students and a smattering of young Europeans looking for a good
time, the Grasshopper resembles a Georgetown bar on a Saturday night.

Kandinsky (Rosemarijnsteeg 9) is a small local favorite with comfortable
couches and an approachable staff. Besides the standard marijuana and hash
selections, the chocolate chip cookies are reason enough to visit.

The Bulldog is the McDonald's of coffee shops, with seven branches in
Amsterdam (main location: Leidseplein 13-17), a bike rental service and a
budget hotel, as well as restaurants in Vancouver, Canada, and Ibiza, Spain.
Nary a native in site, tourists seem to stop here to gawk and smoke after
buying wooden shoes and clicking pictures of windmills.

Off bustling Leidseplein, De Rokerij (Lange Leidsedwarsstraat 41) has a
decidedly "Arabian Nights" feel, with lots of candles, mats on the floor and
intricately carved chairs. Packed and loud with an unfriendly staff, this
coffee shop is not for the uninitiated. The crowd is less mainstream and
more experienced than Bulldog's and the Grasshopper's.

Of course, if these spots don't seem like your cup of tea, don't worry: You
can also get coffee in a coffee shop.

- --Susan Breitkopf

For more information on Amsterdam's coffee shops, contact the Netherlands
Board of Tourism at 888-464-6552: http://www.holland.com/